Chapter 18
Like hell you’re adopting me.
I see the Nerin boy still needs to learn to keep his mouth shut.
You leave him alone.
I wasn’t joking. I don’t want to be adopted by you.
Good thing you get no choice.
I won’t make it easy on you if you do this.
You have yet to make anything easy.
What the heck is wrong with you? You don’t just get everything you want.
Oh?
I’ll protest. I’ll make sure the social workers know who and what you are. I’ll talk to a judge if I have to.
And how have they listened to you so far?
I clicked my phone off and shoved it into the back pocket of my jeans.
“Boyan. Lou,” I called out. “Come on. We’ve got to get going.”
The five- and seven-year-olds protested and dragged their feet across the play yard, even trying to plead with Ricco to let us stay longer.
I was having none of it, especially with the looming threat of Marlene’s presence once we got back.
It just seemed way too easy for Renzo Iannelli to have solved all our problems with a few threats.
Or maybe it was just easier to face Marlene—the devil I knew—rather than admit that Renzo was right, and that I had no control over my life.
With one little snap of his fingers, he could change everything I knew once more. For better or for worse, I had no idea.
Hours later
Are you really serious about this?
You want to deal with me and all my hate?
On a constant basis?
You’re certifiable, you know that?
Why?
Not even going to answer me? That’s childish.
Ask me something worth my while, and I’ll answer.
You’re a real piece of work.
Haven’t you ever heard of “you catch more flies with honey than vinegar”?
I’m not trying to catch you. I’d rather swat you dead and stomp you to pieces.
Charming.
This doesn’t make sense. You’re messing with me because of the car, right?
Mr. Iannelli?
Is it that difficult to answer?
TYPE, damnit!
If I’m not worth a reply, then why adopt me?
If you simply accepted the situation, you wouldn’t have any roundabout questions. You’ll be free from living with the Hayeses. Is that not what you want?
It’s a little late for your savior complex. Eight months too late.
My sincerest, heartfelt condolences for your brother. Truthfully.
A tear dripped onto the phone as I reread those words over and over. On and off, I tried to type something new. Something angry. Something sharp. Something degrading. Each word I typed, I deleted because it changed nothing. Noah was gone, and I was still here, trying to live the best way I could.
You’re adopting me? Really? It’s not a joke? Me, out of all the kids out there?
Why not you?
Is there something I should know?
I don’t see any contagious diseases listed in your file.
Jerkwad!
We’re going to have to work on your manners.
Why not Boyan or Lou? I only have three years left of this. They’ve got more than a decade. They shouldn’t stay at the Hayeses even more than I shouldn’t.
And that means they should be foisted on me?
Why not? You’re rich. You can manage. It’s not like you’d even have to do much. I’ll take care of them.
They’re good kids. They just need a good house.
You owe me this. For my brother.
If you mean what you’re saying you’ll do, then adopt them too.
I don’t take well to orders, Ms. Burch.
I’m trying to appeal to your compassion. Or do mobsters not have any?
I have work to do, Ms. Burch.
Give me an answer, and I’ll leave you alone. It’s not like I enjoy talking to you either.
Of course.
Great! Thank you!
That wasn’t my answer.
Can’t take it back now! I swear you’ll love them. Congrats to the father of three.
Don’t push it.
Yeah, it sounded better in my head.
This doesn’t mean I like you.
Who said you were supposed to?
Thank you for this. And the food. The clothes. Everything.
I hate that you, of all people, did it. And I hate that I feel grateful at all. But yeah, thanks.
I glanced back at that text exchange from a week ago, more confused than ever.
I’d gone searching for it as a reminder to myself.
I hated Renzo Iannelli. I had to, for Noah’s sake.
It didn’t matter how much he helped us, how often Boyan and Lou now laughed like happy kids outside the Hayes house, or how our faces were filling out now that we ate properly.
I’d sworn vengeance, and I needed it. I needed that to get any vindication whatsoever for what Renzo did to my brother.
And yet, the anger that had fueled me since his death was sizzling out, ember by ember, no matter how much I tried to hold onto it.
With every trip to breakfast diners. With the new shoes for Boyan that Renzo delivered himself after the kid somehow made a hole in his other ones.
With Lou’s new softball gear and Boyan’s brand-new piano lessons.
How was it that a relative stranger took such good care of us when the people who should have barely noticed whether we were there or not?
“Where did you get that?” Marlene spat from the bedroom doorway. Crap, I forgot to close the door after Lou came back from the bathroom and climbed into bed, with Boyan next to her.
I jumped upright, trying to stuff my phone into my pants. My head smacked against the front rail of the bunk bed platform above mine. A headache exploded, and I rubbed it. God, that hurt.
“You stole it, didn’t you? Unbelievable.”
The phone was out of my hands before I even realized she had stormed across the room. Her flowery perfume clawed its way down my throat as I stretched around her body to reach for it.
“Give it back. It’s mine.”
“Nuh-uh-uh. Thieves don’t keep their loot. I knew you were stealing more money from me. What else have you taken?”
“I didn’t steal it!”
She held the phone above her. I jumped and failed to reach it.
“Touch me, and I swear I’ll have a troubled girl like you on assault charges faster than you can spread your legs.”
I stood back on my heels, glaring her down. “Give it back, or I’ll get you charged with theft.”
“Aren’t you cute? Everything in this house is mine, including this.”
“It was a gift. Now give it back.”
She cackled at me, twisting the phone around as if it were a prize and not my lifeline for independence and safety. “What would a foster child like you ever need with a latest edition such as this?”
Everything. It wasn’t because it was new or expensive.
It was because of what it represented. For eight months now, I’d depended on the Hayeses and their brand of goodwill until Renzo snaked his way in.
He was going to get me out. I was done being bullied and beaten down by this woman.
I was done being told I was less than and inferior.
I wasn’t. I deserved better. Everyone did.
It was sad that it took my enemy to prove that to me with small acts of calculated kindness.
“If you don’t give it back right now, I’ll make sure you regret it.”
She scoffed. “What are you going to do about it?”
“I’ll make sure Renzo Iannelli makes good on his promise.” I loved the way she blanched—the way her eyes sank with fear and her chin quivered in a mix of shock and dread. “You remember him? You remember what he said, don’t you? I wonder how much he’d make it hurt. I can ask him to make you suffer.”
She tripped backward. “You’re a demon sent from the pits of hell.”
“Anzy?” Lou asked in a sleepy voice, the bed frame creaking.
“Sparrow, stay in bed,” I told her calmly, not taking my eyes off the monster in front of me. “Everything is fine. Hold Boyan tight for me.”
“Okay,” she murmured. She shifted on the bed, blankets rustling, the old mattress springs squeaking.
I prowled toward Marlene, feeling powerful for the first time since Noah died.
“If I’m a demon…” I pried the phone out of her death grip, one finger at a time, and whispered, “You made me this way.”
Marlene gasped as my nails dug into her hand.
“I knew you were selling yourself to him.”
I shivered with revulsion, practically gagging. “Of course your mind goes there. You can’t see how badly you treat all of us. You can’t even fathom that even the worst of humanity thinks you’re scum for what you do. Don’t worry, I’ll be out of your hair soon enough.”
“Not soon enough.”
“Haven’t you heard? I’m getting adopted.”
She wrenched her hand away. “Who would ever want you?”
“Renzo. Iannelli…” I drew his name out. “And he’s taking Lou and Boyan too. You’ll never hurt them or me again. And after that, I’ll find a way to make sure you never foster any children again. You’ll never make money off a kid again. That’s a promise.”
I expected her to tremble in fear at the mention of Renzo’s name just as she had done before. Instead, what I said seemed to strengthen her resolve. Her spine straightened. The color in her cheeks peaked, and her lips thinned into an arrogant smile.
“We’ll see about that.” She pinched my cheek hard and gave it a little shake. “I hope you learn a good lesson from this.”
I brushed off her cryptic words as a bogus threat from someone who had nothing better to do than hurt those around her just to make herself feel strong. I should have known it would never be that easy.